Sometimes i don't know whether to try and feel upbeat about life and try to be positive or whether to feel that life is scary and dark. right now its the latter

[avlady]

I have a hard time with positive thinking and would also like some advice on how to be positive in this scarry world. I feel like i want to die in the mornings when i wake up, it takes me about 2 hours to be fully awake because of sleep apnea too.Once i get my shower in too i feel better too, but also have a hard time feeling joy.

[birdpumpkin]

Since our fire 6 months ago I feel that the world is pretty much very scary more than not. When things unpredictable like that happen, it tends to change your view of the world as a happy, beautiful place. I'm having a really hard time seeing the beauty of the world right now, though I used to love life before and enjoyed living. Woke up every morning full of energy and ready to go. Now I wake up shaking and anxious. I also feel scared when I look to the future and don't see anything good about it. I see my family dying off, getting old and sickly, ending up alone. That really scares me.

[gayleggg]

I have to avoid all news and newspapers. They give me way too much anxiety. I just take it one day at a time and it seems to make me feel safer. I know it's like the ostrich sticking it's head in the sand but it's better than the anxiety.

[birdpumpkin]

I'm the same way gayleggg!! My son has Asperger's, and one of his things is he loves the news and the Weather Channel. Unfortunately the local news is on here several times throughout the day/night, and it's just like an onslaught of bad news being hurdled at you!! With my anxiety, it makes it even worse. Even the words they choose to use are scary, and I think it's on purpose. It makes me rather angry really. One of the local commercials for the news has clips from all the bad weather stories we've had lately with sound bites. It's terrible. And on the Weather Channel it's like how many times do you hear the word "severe" and "tornado" and "hurricane", etc. I have to make him change the channel or get busy doing something else. It really isn't good for people.

[Tender_Heart]

Every time you wake up in the morning, You know it is going to be a beautiful day.

I think i have a pimple on my back because i began to scratch and then there was blood, and i washed the blood away and it looked like a pimple . . . but i was afraid again for a moment. I am increasing my meds now

[Middlemarcher]

For years, I've saved an old Garfield cartoon in which he says, "Life offers us many challenges... and that's why I'm going to go hide behind the couch." In the last panel, you see just his tail sticking out from behind the couch, and he says, "Don't tell life."

[finebutnotokay]

Originally Posted by Illegal Toilet

Sometimes i don't know whether to try and feel upbeat about life and try to be positive or whether to feel that life is scary and dark. right now its the latter

ughh i feel like this all the time! i so so want to be positive about everything that life has to offer because when you think about it from one angle, life is really amazing and beautiful. but i can't help but be negative about everything. personally, i think he world is dark and scary and lonely and tbh i hate it most of the time. whenever I'm positive i just think of something negative to balance it out and i run off on a tangent about all thats wrong with the world. maybe having mental illnesses changed your perception of the world, as often i am jealous of how people can be happy all the time and i'm not so maybe thats the problem? life is just a weird and crazy experience to even comprehend so you're definitely not alone. such a good conversation topic though haha

[eskielover]

Remember, FEELINGS are like waves that come & go....depending on what circumstances are in your life at the time......

SO.......

Sometimes i don't know whether to try and feel upbeat about life and try to be positive or whether to feel that life is scary and dark. right now its the latter

In reality....you shouldn't TRY to feel any way that doesn't reflect the circumstances that are in your life at the moment. When life is upbeat & positive...that's appropriate to feel that way.....when life is scary & dark, it's appropriate to feel those feelings at that time. It's feeling feelings that don't reflect the circumstances in your life that become a problem....but it's important to ALWAYS ACKNOWLEDGE the feelings that reflect the circumstances we are experiencing or to reflect thoughts that you are having......then be able to let go & acknowledge the feelings you are experiencing in the following circumstances.

Originally Posted by eskielover

In reality....you shouldn't TRY to feel any way that doesn't reflect the circumstances that are in your life at the moment. When life is upbeat & positive...that's appropriate to feel that way.....when life is scary & dark, it's appropriate to feel those feelings at that time. It's feeling feelings that don't reflect the circumstances in your life that become a problem....but it's important to ALWAYS ACKNOWLEDGE the feelings that reflect the circumstances we are experiencing or to reflect thoughts that you are having......then be able to let go & acknowledge the feelings you are experiencing in the following circumstances.

I agree eskie. Sometimes it's hard to tell what the circumstances are though

I am going to try meditation. Mindfulness. I hope it will help with this problem, although I haven't been having it as much lately.

[eskielover]

DBT helped me a lot with that......giving yourself (your mind) time to think about what is going on in your life (sometimes writing it down also helps)....& sometimes you can come up with a huge list of emotions & go through the list.....& write after each one your are feeling that is causing you to feel that way.

It definitely takes serious thinking about it & time devoted to that. The same works with thoughts as it does with feelings.

For me having a list of emotions really helped me get in touch not only with all the different possible emotions/feelings, but then I could think & put down what is going on in my life that is causing it......spend time morning & night doing this....& you will be much more in touch with yourself.

I'm not into medication.....but I'm into awareness & paying attention to all that is going on around me rather than just live through whatever live throws at you.....that never works even though some people think it does.....they just aren't aware of how messed up their lives really are (lived with a H like that for 33 years)